Rain Wettened Rose
by Hikaru Kosuzaku
Summary: It's a four chapter oneshot. I know that's weird...anywho, Kurama and Kuronue, not the pairing. I don't do yaoi, just R&R!
1. Kuronue

Ever wonder how Kuronue and Kurama met? I've always wondered and so I wrote this...  
  
Rain Wettened Rose  
  
The rain pounded against his already injured body. The sound of cracking thunder came ever closer. He closed his eyes and gave a pained sigh, unable to do anything about it. In fact, the only thing he wanted to do was die.  
It had been a stupid mistake, the one that had gotten him caught. If only he had had someone to watch his back. But he hadn't, so there was no use in thinking about it now.  
However, thinking was the only thing he could do. In his current predicament there wasn't anything left _to_ do. Even sleeping wasn't an option. He had no youki left, his life energy, in and of itself, was at an all-time low.  
They would be back in the morning, ready to torture him some more. They seemed to find great pleasure in that. Of course, the price on his head was the same with him either dead or alive. So, in the long run, it didn't matter how much they tortured him because in the end he would end up dead, and they would end up rich.  
Feverish gold eyes closed against the pain. His head turned away from the wind that drove the pounding rain. There was no feeling in his hands, chained up to the pole as they were. And the iron collar around his neck was tight enough that it cut into his skin, drawing blood.  
Purple eyes watched from the trees above as the spirit fox suffered. He grimaced, not liking the sight. The injured fox was chained to the pole, stripped and beaten. His body was covered in lacerations, many of them near infection. And then there were also the sickly yellow and dark purple bruises. It wasn't a sight for anyone with weak stomachs.  
Deftly and silently he jumped from the tree, landing gracefully in front of the prisoner. Gold eyes opened and looked up at him. The eyes were dead...emotionless and uncaring. It was as if he had already died. The man with purple eyes looked away and busied himself with picking the locks on the chains that bound him.  
When the prisoners hands fell free from their confines, the fox looked up at the man again, confusion showing in his eyes this time. The collar fell from around his neck. "Who...?" He hurt to much to go on. Purple Eyes turned to give him a smile, gently taking the fox in his arms.  
"I'm just a friend. A fellow thief who refuses to let a legend die." The fox had closed his fever bright eyes at the word friend, relaxing into the arms that held him. Purple Eyes smiled slightly and left the scene, tenderly taking the fox with him.  
  
It was two days before Youko Kurama woke up. Kuronue was there when the gold eyes opened slowly and looked around. He smiled, rearranging his wings to a more comfortable position. His purple eyes met the gold of the youko.  
"Welcome back to the land of the living, Youko Kurama," Kuronue said softly. Kurama stared up at him for a long time before speaking.  
"Who are you, and why did you help me?" he asked, sitting himself up. His silver hair slid over his shoulders and fell down his back, nearly reaching his tail.  
"My name is Kuronue. I'm a thief too. Although nowhere near as famous as you," he laughed softly. Kurama looked him over, and then turned his eyes down towards his bandaged wrists. "I decided that you were just a little to famous to allow to die."  
"It's my fault that I got caught. You should have just left me there." Kuronue gave a short laugh, shaking his head.  
"No way, kitsune. That would have only left me feeling guilty. And no one likes that feeling..." There was a sarcastic smirk on his face when Kurama glanced up at him and then out the cave opening at the still pouring rain.  
"It's still raining..." The youko shuddered slightly, stretching. He looked over at Kuronue, raising an eyebrow. "Hmm..."  
"What?"  
"I was wondering if you've given any thought to the idea of a partner," Kurama said slyly. Kuronue cocked his head to one side, his smirk growing.  
"Thought about it..." He paused. "What would the first 'mission' be?" At that Youko Kurama's eyes glittered mischievously, and he grinned, showing off his fangs.  
"Oh? Revenge of course."  
  
Reviews would be nice...Thanks!  
Hikaru Kosuzaku 


	2. The Amulet

Fever glazed eyes stared out at the still pouring rain, and Youko Kurama muttered something unintelligible from his place on the furs next to the fire. Kuronue glanced in his direction, but didn't bother to say anything.

Youko's fever had returned the day after he had awaken, and the rain had yet to end. What the fox wanted most was to go outside, but that, of course, was unlikely. Especially with the bat chimera constantly watching him.

"I want to go outside," Kurama muttered again, this time loud enough for his newfound friend to hear. Kuronue took the opportunity to talk, raising one eyebrow as he did so.

"Your fever hasn't gone down yet." The fox growled impatiently.

"So?" Kuronue smiled softly.

"Go ahead. But if you die of some strange sickness no one knows about, don't blame me." There was a long moment where Kurama did nothing but stare at the bat, and then he left. Kuronue smiled, noticing just how anxious the fox was to get out. It wasn't in his nature to stay pinned up, and it left him rather irritable.

"Just like someone else I used to know," the chimera muttered with a smile, fingering the amulet around his neck.

Kurama returned sometime later, drenched, hands bloody with reopened wrist injuries, and completely exhausted. He dropped onto the furs, curling up near the fire. Purple eyes watched him silently from the corner of the cave. After a moment, Kuronue shook his head and walked over to his friend, dropping to his knees beside him. Aside from minimal twitching of his ears, Kurama paid no attention.

Kuronue gently took Kurama's arm and unwrapped the bloodstained bandage from around his wrist. He cleaned and rewrapped the wound with new bindings, turning to do the same with his other arm.

"You treat me like I'm just a kit," Kurama mumbled, his glassy eyes staring up at the black figure crouching over him. Kuronue rolled his own eyes, giving an annoyed smirk.

"You continue to act like a kit, and I'll continue to treat you like a kit."

"You only caught me when I'm sick, tired and hurt. Give it time and you'll get to see the real me."

"So...I've only gotten to see the vulnerable you so far?" Kuronue asked with a smile. Kurama fought the childish urge to stick out his tongue, and lost. Kuronue laughed. "And that only helped to aid my point!" Gold eyes moved down to where the amulet was still hanging around the bat's neck. Something he thought he recognized.

"Where'd you get that?" he asked softly, pointing. Kuronue's gaze shifted to the amulet and he didn't speak for a while, his grin fading to a soft, sad smile.

He was staring into the fire when he finally began to speak, his eyes glazing over as his mide went back to earlier days. "My mate gave this to me. She was a beauty of a thing... A youko like you, but with black hair and lavender eyes. I loved her more than anything, still do, and I would do anything to have her back...

"She died a while back. Got caught in a trap on the way back from a supposedly successful heist. I was going back for her, wouldn't leave without her, but she kept yelling at me. Telling me to leave, to run so I wouldn't get caught too." He paused, swallowing back tears, his eyes remaining on the dancing flames.

"I refused to go, and as her last effort to save me she attacked me with her plants. When I awoke, she was dead.

"Later I saw that there were traps surrounding her that I hadn't been able to see, but she had. That if I had gone back to save her, we both would have ended up dead." There was another pause.

"She's buried in her favorite part of the forest. A black and white rose bush grows at the head of her grave." Kuronue's hand reached up and absently fingered the pendent. "She gave this to me the day I asked her to mine forever. If I were to lose it, I would feel as though I were losing her again. It's the only thing, other than memories, that I have left."

Kuronue glanced down at his friend and was surprised to find him pale faced, eyes squeezed shut, and ears lying flat against his head. The bat frowned slightly.

"Was her name Tisaganshi?" the ill youko asked in a whisper. Surprised, Kuronue paused a moment before answering.

"Yes. Did you know her?" Kurama gave a mix between a whimper and a sob.

"Yes."

"How so?" The youko curled tighter into himself, a single tear trailing undisturbed down his cheek from beneath closed eyelids.

"She was my little sister." There was complete silence after that last comment, Kuronue shocked into speechlessness. However, it soon dawned on him that his fever-ridden friend had fallen asleep, and so, he gently stoop up, grabbing some more furs and draping them over the figure by the fire.


	3. Past and Present

Sorry this took me so amazingly long. I don't really know why it did. Laziness i guess. Anywho, this is the last chappie, and then the epilogue.

Once again, gold eyes opened from the feverish dreams of the past. Kurama, in his youko form, found himself in much the same predicament as he had so long ago. Although now, there was no friendly fellow thief to help him out.

He had been on a mission with Yusuke, Kuwabara and Hiei when things had suddenly gotten confusing. He remembered the forest, hadn't wanted to go into it, but had followed the other three anyway. Hiei must have sensed his reluctance, Yusuke too, for they both asked him if something was wrong. He didn't answer. He couldn't very well tell them that this was the very same forest where he had been captured, tortured, saved and then years later have to witness the death of his savior, his best friend. No, this glen did not bode good memories.

And then, during a fight with a bunch of low-classed demons, something had been pressed over his nose and mouth from behind, and he found himself drifting into darkness. After awakening, and violently expressing his nausea, he found himself once again chained to a pole, hands above head, collar around neck. Already ill from the poison, he found himself helpless and was left to await what he knew was coming. And come it did.

When his human body could no longer take the pain, he instinctively changed to his original form, but they relentlessly continued the torture.

It was raining, the water pounding against his battered body. He turned his head away, gold eyes staring to his left. Three feet away stood a rotting pole, rusting iron chains still attached to it. Kurama closed his eyes wearily. The same exact demons. He thought they had killed them all, but apparently, a few had escaped.

He was going to die, was dying already, and he knew it. There was nothing he could do but wait for his death to come. The sweet bliss of death, which he would gratefully embrace. The chance the rest of the Reikai Tentai found him before that was slim. There was no point in hope anymore.

A figure landed gracefully in front of him and he struggled to open his eyes against the darkness that was threatening to pull him down. Purple eyes were staring down at him compassionately.

"Again Youko? Honestly…"

"Kuronue?" Kurama gasped weakly. "But you're…" he broke off, caught in a wave of coughing.

"Supposed to be dead?" Kuronue's fingers worked endlessly at the locks on the chains, even as his eyes gazed in worry at his friend. He had never seen him so injured, so weak, even worse then the very first time he had saved him. "I know. I'll explain later. Let's just get you out of here." The locks fell away. Without the chains to hold him up, Kurama slumped into the outstretched arms of his friend. The fact that he was still conscious surprised the both of them. Kuronue gently lifted the youko and quickly left, being careful not to cause any more pain to the fox.

Once inside the cave, the same one used so long ago, Kuronue carefully lowered the injured fox to the ground, Kurama giving an involuntary cry of pain, and the bat went to work on starting a fire. He then turned and started caring for his friend's injuries, but a bloody hand grabbed his wrist in a surprisingly strong grasp, stopping him from continuing. Glazed gold eyes met the confused purple of the supposedly dead chimera.

"You said you'd explain," Kurama said in a choked whisper. Kuronue paused before nodding.

"I did, didn't I? Well…obviously, I didn't die. After you ran, and I am glad you did, I managed to escape from the trap and get a little farther away. But blood loss made me weaker than I thought and I kind of passed out." He chuckled a little. "Some lady helped me, said that a friend in the Reikai had begged her not to let me die. I still don't understand that much…however, when I was strong enough I started looking for you again, although I never found you. I heard that the infamous Youko Kurama had finally been killed." The hand around his wrist had loosened enough so he could get out of the hold, catching Kurama's hand before it hit the ground.

"And then I decided that I would go a watch the Dark Tournament, where I found out you were alive in a human body." He cleaned and bandaged injuries with swift, deft fingers, all the while the gold eyes never leaving his own. "You always said that you would rather die than be a human…but I like the way it's changed you. There were times in the past when you scared me…" Kurama closed his eyes in a tight wince as Kuronue started cleaning a larger injury. Kuronue frowned, noticing how he could hardly feel his friend's reiki, youki or life energy. "Go to sleep, okay? Just get some rest." Kurama didn't bother moving or speaking, just relaxed, allowing himself to sleep.

Kuronue continued caring for his friend's injuries as the fox fell asleep. In all honesty, his condition shouldn't have made him so weak, so ill. True, it was bad, but not bad enough to render the great Youko Kurama this helpless. He sighed, shifting black wings at his back. The only explanation for it was the fact that Kurama's human body must be dying. With that side's death, Youko Kurama would die too. And he didn't want to have to lose his friend again.

Kurama shuddered in his sleep, muttering something incoherently. As an answer, Kuronue placed his hand against his friend's cheek and whispered that it was okay. The fox fell silent once again, unconsciously hearing and believing the bat's words. Kuronue sat back, the silent guardian of the reformed thief. He'd have to wait for morning before he did anything else. His only hope was that Kurama could wait until morning.

Yusuke, Kuwabara and Hiei searched endlessly through the rain for their missing friend. It had been two days since he had disappeared during the middle of a battle, the cause was still unknown. The fact that they still hadn't been able to track him down was worrying them beyond comprehension. Even Hiei was worried, although he wouldn't say that aloud.

A beeping sound came from Yusuke's back pocket and he pulled out the blue communicator. Botan's face appeared on the round screen. "Yusuke! Surely it doesn't take that long to track down a thief!"

"You'd be surprised," Yusuke muttered under his breath. "Yes Botan, we found the thieves, we destroyed the thieves and lost our thief at the same time."

"What?"

"Kurama's missing…" There was complete silence on the other side.

"Kurama," Kuronue whispered to his friend. Fever bright eyes met his. "I need you to change back to your human side. Could you do that for me?" he asked softly. A look of apprehension appeared in the fox's eyes, as though he knew that what the bat was asking him to do would put him in a lot of pain. And it probably would. For a moment, nothing happened, and then Youko Kurama glowed a dull gold-green and his form changed back into that of his human side.

Kuronue's frown increased tenfold at the sight of Kurama's battered, bloody form. The fox, held gently and protectively against the bat's chest, was trembling from the pain that wracked his frail body. Emerald eyes, barely open and filled with tears, caught the purple eyes of his best friend. Kuronue's hand made it's way to the base of Kurama's neck, fulfilling the plea that the fox's eyes had screamed out at him. Kurama went limp as he fell into unconsciousness.

"I really didn't want to do that Kurama," Kuronue whispered, removing his hand from the fox's neck. He examined the bloody body that he carefully held, frowning at the sight of the extensive damage. He had an extremely high fever, easily over 100 degrees, and his breathing was weak and labored.

But around the fox's neck was a chain, and on that chain a simple blood red pendant. Kuronue smiled slightly, fingering the pendant.

"I wondered where that had gone…" he muttered before lying his friend back down and grabbing a damp rag and a whole lot of bandages.

"I don't know what to do," Yusuke muttered through the downpour of the rain. Hiei and Kuwabara remained silent, peering through the rain and darkness, into the trees, still searching for their friend. The communicator beeped and Yusuke pulled it out of his pocket.

"Any luck?" Botan asked, her voice strangely free from its usual bounce. Yusuke sighed and shook his head. "Oh." Her candy eyes filled with tears. "Just keep searching." The detective nodded and closed the communicator, returning it to his pocket.

They had stopped walking by this point, staring at a pole that stood in front of them. Attached to the pole were chains, still red with blood that hadn't been washed away from the rain. Hiei bent down, examining the chains, and the locks that had been seemingly picked.

"That's our fox's all right," he said softly. Yusuke groaned, rubbing his face with his hands.

"Okay, so if he was here earlier, then where is he now?" Kuwabara asked. Hiei just looked at him, raising one eyebrow.

"And for once the moron asks the right question…" There was no comment from either boy. Yusuke suddenly kicked the pole in front of him, the wood cracking with the force.

"Kurama if you're dead, I swear I'm going to kill you!" he yelled, not caring that he didn't make any sense. A new energy appeared, and the three tensed.

"Hopefully it won't come to that," Kuronue said gently. Yusuke stared at him, and at the burden in his arms. The bat moved closer to the teen, handing Kurama over. "He needs to get back to the human world." Yusuke took his friend slowly, not knowing exactly what to say.

"Who are you?" he asked as soon as he had regained possession of his voice. Kuronue gave an unnerving smile and shrugged slightly.

"Just a friend," he answered, brushing wet hair from his eyes. Hiei and Kuwabara remained silent in the background, both frowning, but not knowing what to do. Kuronue handed Yusuke an envelope, asking him to give it to Kurama as soon as the fox was well again. Yusuke replied that he would and the bat disappeared in a blur, almost as fast as Hiei could.

Chocolate brown eyes looked down at the unconscious fox in his arms, bundled in furs…most likely rabbit by the looks of it. Kurama was completely bandaged and cared for, although he still had a high fever. And his energy was weak, extremely weak, although not as weak as it had been the day before. The detective turned to face Hiei and Kuwabara.

"Let's go home." They nodded.


	4. Epilogue, stories to tell

Kurama was seated on the porch of Genkai's temple, watching the sunset. It was the first time he had been up in the past week. Luckily for him, his friends had told his mother he had had to go on a last minute trip for school. He was supposed to suddenly return home in about two days…

Yusuke walked up the many steps, grumbling something unintelligible about stairs. Chocolate brown met emerald and froze, like a deer caught in headlights. Kurama had tendency to do that to people. After a moment, Yusuke shook it off and hurried up the rest of the steps.

"So, how ya feelin'?" the detective asked. Kurama gave a short sigh and a small smile.

"Better." Too short of an answer. Yusuke frowned.

"Do you remember anything that happened?" he asked. Kurama shuddered, his emerald eyes focused on the trees across the yard. For a moment, Yusuke regretted asking, but he pushed away any guilt he felt.

"I remember pain. Lots of pain…and then a sanctuary. But all that is foggy…like a dream." He sighed. "Maybe it was a dream." Yusuke shook his head.

"I can assure you that it wasn't." The emerald eyes were on him again, looking at him curiously. He jumped, as if just remembering something, and pulled an envelope out of his pocket. "Here, this is for you."

Kurama took it slowly, giving Yusuke one last curious look before looking at the envelope in his hand. He opened it, pulling out a small note, a piece of bamboo, and a blood red pendant.

'Nice amulet. Don't ever lose it.' Kurama smiled, twirling the bamboo between his fingers and sliding the pendant's chain over his head and around his neck. It hadn't been a dream.

"What's with the amulet?" Yusuke asked suddenly. Kurama looked at him, giving him an unnerving smile, one much like the one that bat demon had given him a week ago.

"It's a long story," the fox said, his voice quiet. Yusuke grinned.

"I have time."

And it's done. Thanks for hanging in there with me. This took way too long... Reviews please! And no flames, cuz they're only used to roast Sensui.


End file.
